Fernandez said she used to be married to Santiago Pineda, 36, the man who police say died Saturday after being stabbed in the chest. Investigators believe Pineda's girlfriend, Susana Quijano, killed him.

"That girl that he was with... we were supposedly friends," Fernandez said. "My kids call her 'Mom.' They loved her a lot, and I thought we had good communication, but now she left my kids without a dad."

Quijano, 34, appeared in court Tuesday for the first time. She said she needed to get out on bond for her kids.

"I'm not no threat, really, I'm not," Quijano said. "I have nothing on my record other than citations of driving and no insurance."

The judge set bond at $1 million.

Pineda was a Mexican national. A court document refers to him as "Santiago Delgado Pineda," but he used several names, including "Santiago Gamino."

Cops haven't found the murder weapon. District court records say Quijano told police "she threw the bloody knife out her driver's window, and her bloody purse out the passenger side window" along I-84. Nampa police looked for it twice but found nothing.

Fernandez said Pineda's children were already planning a surprise party for their dad, who would have turned 37 next month.

"He was a great dad," said Teresa Contreras, the victim's stepdaughter. "He liked spending time with us a lot. I couldn't imagine this happening."

"It's hard because my little boy is waiting for his dad to come home from work," Fernandez said, "and my kids are never going to see him again."